The first module of the House of Schools recently reached the roof level and construction is scheduled to be completed in October. Then we set up and move. The first seminars are scheduled to take place in the modern building in the east of the campus in March 2025 – according to the schedule.
More on the subject: The first “House of Schools” at the JKU is scheduled to open at the end of the year
There is a total of around 6,900 square meters available, which is spread over six floors. Four seminar rooms and meeting rooms are on the ground floor and offices are on the upper floors. On the top floor there will also be a large event room with a balcony in front.
Light-flooded atrium
The heart of the building is a light-flooded atrium in the middle with cantilevered stairs and platforms. 160 employees will move to the House of Schools, in which the Federal Real Estate Company (BIG) is investing 43 million euros gross, including interior design.
Bild: Daniel Hinterramskogler
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Bild: Daniel Hinterramskogler
The building structure is intended to create communication spaces and enable chance encounters where people can start conversations. “We believe that this communication is very important for science; ideas often arise in passing over the coffee machine,” says architect Peter Sapp from “querkraft architekten”, whose design won the EU-wide architectural competition. That’s why there are relatively many lounges.
A second important aspect is sustainability. On the one hand, this means the energy supply. Around 300 deep boreholes were drilled for the heat pump, and the floor and ceiling slabs are used as heat and cold storage using concrete core activation. A photovoltaic system is planned on the green roof, and the facade of the building is partly green. The flexibility of the building is also sustainable. There is a slim reinforced concrete grid and otherwise no load-bearing walls. In the short term, for example, offices can be quickly merged. In the long term, it allows for completely different uses in the future. “The building is therefore fit for the future and can be completely reprogrammed later,” says Sapp.
